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A hospital in Zimbabwe charged women $5 for each scream during childbirth
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| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia Jul 12, 2013 01:48pm |
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| Category | General |
| Author | Max Fisher |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Thursday, July 11, 2013 07:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Corruption is so systemic in Zimbabwe, one of Africa’s poorest countries, that a local hospital charges mothers-to-be $5 every time they scream while giving birth. That’s according to an extensive new report from Transparency International on corruption around the world, which also notes that a staggering 62 percent of Zimbabweans say they’ve paid a bribe in the past year.
The $5 hospital screaming fee, purportedly a charge for “raising false alarm” but clearly aimed at separating mothers from their money, is no joke. Gross domestic product per capita is only $500 in Zimbabwe; average annual income per person is about $150. Zimbabwean hospitals also charge a $50 delivery fee. This means that, in a country where underemployment is 95 percent and poverty is rife, a mother who screams a few times during delivery might owe half her annual income after giving birth.
According to a follow-up by Transparency International, women who can’t afford the high fees are sometimes detained at the hospital and charged interest until their family can pay up. As a result, many Zimbabwean mothers give birth at home because they can’t afford the charges. The United Nations reports that, on average, eight mothers die during childbirth every single day in Zimbabwe. |
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